This racehorse owner is reserved, unassuming and generally to the point. If you didn't know of his accomplishments you might guess he wasn't that ambitious. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

This Texas cowboy usually wears an ever present Stetson and a slight smile upon his countenance as if he knew something you didn't. Maybe he does.

Johnny Trotter comes from Hereford, Texas and went to high school there. His father, Clifford was a Methodist pastor.

"When I was a bitty kid, I had a friend who had a horse and I just couldn't stay off of him," Trotter recalled. "I wanted to be a cowboy all my life but I don't know if I'll ever be one"

That last sentence of his is the unassuming part of this gentleman, along with some subtle humor.

Early on, he worked around feed yards riding horses and eventually wound up in the cattle feed business. At first he had a small feed yard and then bought a big one. The one he has had now for 30 years is the largest independently owned feed yard in the U.S. He also farms 10,000 acres in Hereford, where he raises corn and wheat and has several ranches.

Johnny and Jana Trotter have been married now for 14 years, but two years before that he brought Jana to Ruidoso on a date.

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"I was trying to impress Jana," Trotter said. "So I told Blane Wood to buy me a racehorse. I told him, 'You don't know me but I'm fixin' to be the best thing that's ever happened to you.' A while later, Wood got me a gelding named Savage Affair. He and I got to be good friends. Savage Affair, now works cattle for a living."

The next year Trotter bought Royal N Rowdy, a gelding by Royal Quick Dash. Rowdy was the 11th-fastest for the West Texas Futurity and 11th fastest for the Ruidoso Futurity. As a three-year-old the gelding won the Fall Derby at Sunland and was third in the Go Man go Handicap.

"I like winning," Trotter said.

He should know that feeling well. He had three Champions in five years.

He currently has a horse partnership with the Four 6's Ranch and together they won the 2013 Rainbow Futurity at Ruidoso Downs with the Blane Wood-trained Ms First Prize Rose. Trotter raised One Famous Eagle (in partnership with the Four 6's), winner of the 2007 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity (G1). One Famous Eagle is the leading freshman all-time sire and was just syndicated.

Trotter also campaigned the 3-year-old Miss Racey Jess, the champion 3-year-old filly (co-owned with the Four 6's) and Bodacious Dash who won the 2011 Texas Classic Futurity. Trotter also owns the 3-year-old champion colt, Hez Our Secret.

"He's one of my closest friends," Blane Wood said. "He's very generous, down to earth and straight to the point. He's a livestock man and a cowboy."

Trotter returns the compliment by saying, "Blane and I have had a lot of fun."

What's left for this cowboy to accomplish?

I want to win the All American Futurity," Trotter said. "But to do that you gotta have a fast horse and more luck."

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